The True Mutants Tale
by Max And Nudge
Summary: Forget clones. There's six winged mutants who named themselves after the flock, and they're hosting a prison-er, lab-break. Did I mention that they have an important destiny themselves? Along with a personal mission? Finally, wheres the REAL flock?
1. Prologue

**Nudge: MUAHAHA FIRST STORY :D Yeah, welcome to a story where a bunch of Flock stand-ins escape the School and go on a few missions which I'm not allowed to tell you yet cuz-**

**Max: NUDGE!**

**Nudge: o_O what?**

**Max: you're ranting. shut up.**

**Nudge : :3 i may not be the real nudge, but boy do I act like it!**

**Max: -_-' Ok, anyways, please read review and all that stuff...**

**Nudge: She's a newbi-**

**Max: SHUT UP!**

**Disclaimer: We don't own maximum ride. however, we wish we did! :)**

My muscles ached.

My heart beat against my bloody chest, hummingbird speeds.

Needles pricked my dark skin.

My eyes fluttered open, and I saw death.

Bright blinding lights surrounded me, and I only saw the strange humanoid shadow looming above me, digging IVs into my veins, strapping me down with more restraints, and feeling my heartbeat and pulse. Running familiar, painful tests. But pain existed here, lingering forever. Even if I ever escaped, the memories would loom in my mind, the dark shadow of my past filled with agony.

Welcome to my world, a world filled with pain, white-coats, and mutant freaks.

"Hold still." the figure commanded. As if I had a choice. I groaned in response. He injected a new, icy liquid into my veins, and I blacked out.

The next few times I woke up, I saw very odd things. Kids with extra body parts, a girl with lions fangs, a boy who had a tail, mutants which were probably once kids, morphed into green blobs of anatomy's worst nightmares, probably incapable of speech or even thoughts. The pointless mistakes in science. I just fell unconscious again with another round of ice liquid.

But soon I came around for good, and I was in a crate. One the size for a German Shepherd. Except instead of bars they were plain metal walls, and only the door of the locked crate was bars. I was sprawled across the floor, unable to rise. I groaned slightly, feeling an unnatural heaviness in my back. I didn't know how long I was out. Stiffness in my joints told me quite a while. I gazed through the bars to see more crates around me. Shadows hid my roommates.

"Help... Where am I?..." I asked as loud as I dared. No answer, a few stirs from other crates, but none of the mutants moved or answered my question.

Only one mutant crawled out from the shadows. I saw brown hair with natural blonde streaks, brown eyes, and a devil's sly smile. "Where we are? The School."

"What...section?..."

"Lord, I don't know." she shrugged, "Who are you?"

"I don't... know." I sighed weakly.

"Don't know, huh? Not many do. We know those freaking white coats know. But since we don't, we just name ourselves."

"I don't know... what to name... myself..." I was slowly trying to receive from whatever had happened.

"Let's see your characteristics... Gold hair, brown eyes, tan skin... Remind me of a California beach girl."

"No." I said, reading her mind. "Never."

"Good point... Doesn't suit you. I should just name you Clueless and be done with it."

"I could just call you... Stupid... And be done."

"Touché." she grinned. "But call me Serena. Or Max. Whichever one suits you."

"And how are those two names at all alike?" I asked.

She shrugged. "It's the name of another mutant who I've heard of from those white coats. The other I made up for fun. For now, I'm calling you Tori. A.K.A. Nudge."

"Another mutant from your eavesdropping sessions?" I guessed. Max nodded.

"Nudge was what she called herself. Her real name was Monique. But that name didn't seem right for you, no offense. I thought of Tori randomly..."

"So far, I can guess you are very random." I joked. "Tori it is."

"Alright. Nice to know I'm not alone." Max smiled.

"How long have you been here?" I asked, wanting to know how long I could possibly be in here.

Her expression fell, "Far longer than I ever wanted. So long I stopped counting the weeks." Serena backed up, and showed me many tallies, carved into the paint. My mouth dropped open as if on loose hinges. It must have been years.

"Oh. My god." I said, "Am I going to be in here that long?"

"Not if we escape." she replied, her facial expression determined. "When we escape, you're coming with us."

"Us? As in, more people?" I was bewildered. I didn't know. I was so new.

"Yup!"

"Who's us?"

Max grinned, "Fang," then she said another name with the same tone, "Shawn. He was my partner until you came."

Then, another mutant stirred, "What, I'm not your partner anymore?" he muttered.

"No, you are, but now we have another group member." she smirked. A boy crawled out of the shadows next to Max's cage. He had short brown hair, pale skin, and brown eyes that seemed endless as I looked into them. His expression was defeated, crushed. His eyes were dull. He wasn't sitting up tall like Max was. I could easily compare them, because he had given up, while she had hope. But who couldn't lose hope? I saw all the time they had been in here, sitting in cages, tests tests and more tests. We were experiments, no more, no less. Hope is easily extinguished, like a flame in the rain.

"Hi." I said.

"Hi." he replied back, not much emotion.

"Nudge, meet Fang. Fang, Nudge." Max introduced.

"Well, nice to meet someone else capable of speech, I guess. Welcome to mutant world."

"Oh there was once a happy mutant named Fang..." Max sang, until Fang cut her off.

"OH MY GOD!"

"Yes well I'm continuing, get over it! There once was a happy mutant named Fang, who believed he would one day escape, 'till eventually this hellhole sucked the life out of him!" she exclaimed. Fang groaned.

"I HATE that STUPID SONG!"

"But it's true!" Max argued, and I heard conviction and truth in her voice.

"Still." he muttered.

"One day, we'll escape, and you'll be smiling and cheering and be back to your old self in no time!" she said cheerily. "All we need is a stupid white coat with a baseball bat, that window, and a clear fly zone!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, WAIT A SEC!" I stopped them, "Slow down. Fly zone? Baseball bat? That window? I don't see any help from any of that. ESPECIALLY not the baseball bat! That'll just break my nose and ruin everything..." I wrinkled my nose, imagining it, bloody, bent at an awkward angle, me unconscious from the blow... May as well be back on the table with white coats watching me intently as if I'm an experiment. I am, actually.

"First of all, if we're gonna escape, pain is something we have to ignore. Nothing can slow us down." Max commanded, and suddenly I felt like a soldier. Max was the general, and I had to listen to her, or I would die with a bullet to the head. Boy, I forgot, that may as well be true.

"As for the baseball bat, if we can trick them so they accidentally break the cages with it, we escape." Fang explained.

"And finally, the fly zone and the window... Wait, do you think she noticed?..." Max trailed off.

"Nope." Fang shook his head.

"What? What didn't I notice?" I exclaimed. I felt like an alien.

"Anyways, we break out, crash through the window, and fly away!" she cheered. Fly... Fly, fly, fly. Was I missing something? A valuable piece of information? The key ingredient in the recipe? The number in an equation? Yes, I was, but what?

"And now we explain the hard part..." Max gave me a sly smile. Fang stared at me, and to my surprise, he wore a small grin. Then, Fang rolled his shoulders, and unfolded his dark, black wings.

Max unfolded her white wings, with brown specks and tips.

And, suddenly, without a thought to it, I unfolded MINE.

**Nudge: interesting, huh? right right?**

**Max: ... tsk tsk Nudge...**

**Nudge: TIME FOR POST-STORY QUESTIONS! Nudge has wings? Isn't she a bit behind? Didn't the summary say six people? Where are the other three? And-**

**Max: -WILL YOU REVIEW? :D**

**Nudge: -_-'**

**Max: Click the lil' blue button below... MEOW MIX!**

**Nudge: FRANKENBIRDY!**

**Max: TO BE CONTINUED!**


	2. The Nudge Experiment

**Nudge: I like to start the emotions and action up early...**

**Max: yes you do. You made Ella and our teacher cry o_O**

**Nudge: I try to.**

**Max: o_o you're special Nudge. You're special.**

**Nudge: :3**

**Disclaimer: We still don't own Maximum Ride.**

Wings. Fawn colored, with a tint of gold. Beautiful wings of my own. Could I fly? I believed I could. If I had them, why not be able to fly? Either way, I was stunned.

Fang whistled, "Yup, she's a keeper."

"Knew it!" Max cheered. "She's gonna help us! Forget Billy club and vent plan, now we start group bird kid experimenting, which I think I've eavesdropped enough... We might escape!"

"Whaaat?" my eyes bulged. "Bird kid experimenting? I just spend the most of my life unconscious until now! Because of...that! No way, can't be possible!" I didn't want to go back. I just found others of 'my kind'. Going back to that hellhole would be the worst news ever, if I didn't know better. There would be worse, but right now this was worst case scenario. I didn't want this. I didn't need this. I didn't deserve this. What did I ever do to earn this?

"Nudgie calm down!" Max commanded. "It's done in intervals, so you'll get cozy in this crate too, but don't get to comfortable. We ain't staying long!" she put on that usual determined face.

I shut up, still shaking a little bit. I bit my bottom lip. I was terrified. I remembered the fluorescent lights blinding me, as needles entered my skin, being stitched up and torn apart again. Fang saw me, and then gave me a reassuring look. "We'll make it, together. I promise."

"I'm holding you to that."

"Testing will start, approximately, tomorrow. Get some sleep. First chance we get, we make a break for it. I'll explain in the morn'." Max explained, and then began crawling back into the shadows. Fang did the same. And so did I. I curled up, closed my eyes, and fell deep into the first peaceful sleep I've ever come to know.

I never knew what I'd missed out on for the first many years of my insignificant life.

I woke up to the yelling of a very demanding white coat. He whacked each of the cages with a club, and when it hit mine, I lost all drowsiness as the shock rocked my cage around. Nice to know my house would be hit by a club every morning.

"Get up!" shouted the white coat, "Get up! Get up and out!" all the cages unlocked simultaneously. Then I got a good look at my new surroundings. Several differently numbered elevated pads, with a kind of elevator-like device connected to each platform. I noticed how our crates were moved from the old room, and into this small circular chamber. The only exit I saw was an air-lock door, and it looked very sturdy.

I saw Max and Fang up close for the first time. Max was an alpine girl, around 12. She looked rather sturdy, muscular, but a skinny twig. Fang had similar characteristics. He was a bit stronger, but a bit shorter. He seemed a bit younger than Max, though. Fang looked at me and grinned. Max nudged him, and she said something, and Fang's expression dropped a bit. He shook his head. Max's expression hardened and she nodded. Fang stared at her, and then shot a glance at me. He looked nervous. That made ME nervous.

"Mutants!" the white coat demanded. "Don't resist. Try your hardest on the following tests. Step onto your assigned platform." he dragged me out of the crowd as every mutant stepped onto a platform. He shoved me onto platform 8 and locked each door in front of the platform. We were trapped.

Suddenly, the platform moved upwards, and I rocketed into the air. I stared up, and saw the ceiling coming at us with astounding speed. Just when I thought we'd become bird-kid pancakes, it came to a sudden halt, and I nearly hit the ceiling from the sudden stop.

We were forced to walk single file into a room. There was an empty glass tank, bolted tight. The glass was thick and unbreakable; I could tell from the size of the corners. There was a sky light, which I didn't dare smash just yet, and I saw the sun shining bright; it was around 11. A new white coat came and grabbed my arm. He led me up a staircase to the top of the tank, and then tossed me in. I hit the floor with a thud, and then groaned. I got up on my hands and knees, then to my knees. I was about to stand, when a rush if water began to fill the tank. And with a small click, I knew. I had been locked inside.

I looked up to see the sky, and a waterfall being dumped into the tank. I was a good swimmer, and I was good at holding my breath from the times I held my breath when blocking out pain of tests, but I could only hold it so long. Water was already up to my knees, and I stood up, gathering my breath. Then up to my chest, soon it rose to my neck. I swam up higher to get more breath. One more breath... Then I was submerged under the icy liquid.

I opened my eyes, looking around. I stared out of the skylight, and nearly lost my breath.

Fang had escaped. He was sitting on the roof, watching me closely, calmly.

He made no attempt to help me.

I stared at him, forgetting how I was stuck in a tank filled with water, how one wrong move sent me back to the crate or even straight to hell. He was sitting there, watching me. Made no attempt to swoop down and save me. No attempt to help. Hadn't he said we would escape together? If so, then why am I still here, trapped, and he watching me, having been liberated from his bonds? I thought maybe I could have trusted someone, but apparently not; he wasn't going to help me.

Suddenly, a pain aroused inside my chest. Bubbles were released from my mouth. No! I had run out of breath, and I was already struggling to hold on. How much time had passed?

Fang saw my struggle and still, didn't help me. He just sat there, perched on the roof, wings folded, and his brown eyes staring down into the room where I was drowning.

Betrayal, that was what I felt, under the pain. I was sure he wasn't going to help me now. Through the agonizing pain, I thought, maybe trusting him wasn't the smartest thing after all.

The pain in my chest increased, and all idle thoughts were erased from my mind. I had to escape. I couldn't breathe. I kicked my feet and banged against the top glass, letting my desperation show. "LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT!" I shrieked, engulfed by both the frigid water and my own fear.

But no one let me out. I tried to smash the glass, but I couldn't. I cried, but the water cover it up. But everything else showed. Other mutants watching me stared in horror as I pounded my fists against the glass.

Soon, my burst of fear and energy dissolved, and I felt weaker than ever. My pain was unbearable, killing me inside. I lacked something I got nearly every day of my life. There was none down here, and I knew it. It was over and I gave up. I sank to the bottom, defeated. I stared up, and just before my eyes drifted shut, I looked up, seeing Fang's face, which was no longer expressionless. It was pained, surprised, and terrified.

Then, he whipped out his black wings and darted down towards the sky light.

Shawn's POV (Fang)

I saw her begin to sink, and my chest tightened. Her eyes began to flutter shut. She hit the bottom, and I couldn't stay put any longer. Screw the plan, Max didn't make it in time! I dove down, snapping out my 14 foot wings to their full length. I soared down, and then tucked my wings in. I became a bullet. And I collided with the glass head-first.

First thought: AGH!...

Second thought: Gotta... Keep... Going...

I stood up shakily, and then realized all heck had broken loose.

Mutants were dashing around, realizing a chance to escape. White coat back-up sprinted in with tranquilizer guns.

Pop! Pop! Two nearby mutants went down, darts in their body.

I had only moments. Nudge wasn't being saved, which meant I had to save her. I wasn't gonna loose her that easily.

I saw the lock holding the tank's top in place. A ring of keys hung on the wall. I stumbled over the ring and took it. I chose a gold key at random and stuck it in the lock. It took a few times because I was shaky, but when I tried to open it, nothing happened. I tried a silver key next. Nope. A cold sweat dripped down my face. Every time I missed a key was one more chance she was dead. She wouldn't die.

Third time's a charm. I stick the iron key in the lock and turned. Click.

I pushed the cover off, making it hit a white coat on the other side. I took a deep breath and dove under.

Opening my eyes, I saw Nudge, sprawled on the ground, her cinnamon hair flowing around her in the currents. I swam down towards her and grabbed her hand. I pushed off the bottom and rocketed towards the top.

My head hit the surface, and I took a breath. I pulled Nudge up and threw her over the edge. "Common, hang in there..." I urged. I picked her up, but found I was too dizzy. I went down to grab her hand but felt weak and fell. My face pressed against the wet metal. I tried to get up but I couldn't. I felt my head and pulled my hand back, seeing blood. My wound was worse than I thought.

Then, a white coat ran over, and grabbed us both under the arms. I didn't have any strength left to resist.

The white coat began to drag us towards the currently open doors. I couldn't resist; I was too dizzy and I've lost too much blood. I glanced over towards the tank, and realized it was tinted red from my dive.

Then, I was suddenly dropped. I heard a girl scream, "Yes! First kill!"

The sound was my last as I lost consciousness.

**Nudge: :D :D :D**

**Max ._.**

**Nudge: ooh POST-STORY QUESTIONS! Will they survive? Who is saving them? HOW. WILL. THEY. ESCAPE. NOW? STAY TUNED!**


	3. The Great Escape

**Nudge: :'( so short :(**

**Max: there there nudgie... *pats head***

**Nudge: *whimpers* just read and LEAVE ME TO MY MISERY!**

**Disclaimer: Nope, we don't. QUIT RUBBING IT IN**

Max's POV

Great, TWO unconscious bird kids, both of which I had planned to keep conscious. I couldn't drag them both out alone, much less fly away. "God! Help!" I screamed into the crowd of mutants. No one came to my rescue. I picked up their arms began to drag them back towards the broken skylight. I looked up and saw the sun, peeking out from behind nearby buildings. Unfurling my wings, mutants backed up. I tried to shoot up, but I couldn't get more than a few inches off the ground. With another powerful push, I tried to lift up. But no, it was useless.

"Now would be a great time for some help..." I muttered as white coats began to push though the crowd. But they weren't the only ones. Three other mutants began to push towards me. They reached me first and help me grab Fang and Nudge. Flapping our wings in unison so they wouldn't crash, we lifted up and away. White coats made a desperate grab for our legs, but it was no use. The tranquilizer darts missed their marks. We were home free.

Almost.

As soon as we were soaring, black forms began prowling out the main doors. Humans armed with unfamiliar guns quickly followed.

The humans aimed at us, a clump of six flying mutants. Red dots appeared on us, and we all panicked.

"SPLIT UP! TWO PEOPLE PER UNCONSCIOUS MUTANT!" I commanded. Two of my lil' helpers grabbed Fang, me and the other grabbed Nudge. We swerved away just as they pulled the triggers. Bullets missed us by inches.

"The woods!" the girl helping me suggested. I nodded. We all dove, heading towards the woods. Branches whacked my face and got in my way, but we soon tumbled to a stop in a small clearing. We all took a quick breather while we still could.

Nudge rolled over and coughed out water, and her breath was shaky. "Take it slow Nudgie."

I helped her sit up, and she just sat there. She was weak and frail, so I bet she wasn't up to flying yet.

But she would have to be soon. In the back of my mind, I heard growls and howls, and the clicking of the safeties, and afterwards, the shots.

That was what was soon to come, I knew, if we didn't get the heck out.

"Ok guys, rest over. We gotta jet." I decided. Everyone was panting.

"Seriously?" said a boy with brown eyes, and dirty blonde hair.

"But we just got to rest..." said a girl, who was a few years younger than the rest of us, with short, curly blonde hair and bright blue eyes.

"A few more minutes...?" asked another boy, with a dark blonde cow-lick, and he had grey eyes.

I shook my head, "They're coming now. So common, get up and get them!" I picked Nudge up and she stood up shakily.

"Wh-where-"

"We're escaping. Tell us when you can fly."

"O-okay..." she nodded.

Then I encountered a problem. We all didn't have enough room to take off. This clearing was smaller than I thought. We'd have to run.

Why the hell did I have to deal with this shtick?

I sighed and started dragging Nudge behind me.

"Try and move your feet! Jeez!" I snapped at her. I didn't mean to sound like a bully, but hey, it just happens.

"What?" Nudge asked, starting to wake up. I muttered curses under my breath; I hated repeating myself.

"Don't make her repeat herself...she probably doesn't even remember what she said anyways," Fang chimed in from somewhere behind me. He was probably smirking. I made a face but didn't retaliate; he was speaking truth. Nudge grabbed my wrist harder and pointed to the sky,

"I think I can fly now, Sierra,"

"Meow mix! Just call me Max!" I growled, because everyone messed up my real name. I looked at Fang; he got the message and nodded. He could fly too, I had no idea how long it would take by walking, but I knew for a fact that flying was faster than running.

"Short squats and tall one! You can fly too, right?" I asked to the others behind me. I hadn't figured out names yet and now wasn't the time. They all agreed. I looked up and made sure there was enough room for even Fang to fly through, seeing as he had the largest wings.

I literally threw Nudgie into the air and Fang followed her. Then I watched the two shorter kids fly up and then the tall one.

"To the left dipstick!" I shouted at him. He clearly had eye problems. He followed my directions and went through the opening, barley missing the trees. I followed everyone.

Time to go shelter hunting!

**Nudge: ._. that was easy.**

**Max: yeah, like we're letting them off the hook so easily.**

**Nudge: I know, right? They goin' DOWWWNNN... POST-STORY QUESTIONS! Can you guess who the three are? What's up with Meow Mix? ah, so one is blind? Can you guess who? Or are we throwing you off and giving Gazzy glasses? STAY TUNED!**


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